Role of self-efficacy and social appearance anxiety on gaming motivations of MMOFPS players

• Explored MMOFPSs were dominated by young and male members.
• Achievement was the leading motivation followed by social and immersion.
• Academic and general self-efficacy positively predicted all gaming motivations.
• Social appearance anxiety negatively predicted the immersion motivation.
• Playing time varied with regard to age and education.

This study investigated the gamer characteristics and motivations among the members of two massively multiplayer online first person shooting games (MMOFPS). Responses of 5380 gamers were obtained through online administration of several measures on personal information, gaming motivations, social appearance anxiety, and self-efficacy. A structural equation model was proposed and confirmed in both games, which revealed that academic self-efficacy and general self-efficacy were highly related both of which predicted socialization, immersion and achievement motivations. Furthermore, social appearance anxiety influenced achievement motivations through the help of immersion. All motivation types were positively related. Additional analyses revealed statistically significant differences in playing time with regard to age and education, whereas the practical significance of these analyses required further research.